


Once upon a Memory

by ChaoticWriterCrazy



Category: Twisted Wonderland - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comedy, Criminal Masterminds, Dream themes, F/M, Fantasy, Friendship/Love, Kidnapping, M/M, Memory Alteration, Mild Language, Multi, Mystery, Oc in place of main character plot, Past Violence, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25956994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticWriterCrazy/pseuds/ChaoticWriterCrazy
Summary: This is what she wanted, wasn’t it? Amazing adventures to be had, mysterious castles to explore, a colorful cast of people to know. All the wonderful things she hears about in stories and fairy tales.Nobody ever mentioned she’d wake up in a coffin with her memory tampered and ligatures on her wrists.Nobody ever said anything about how terrifying and stressful an adventure truly was.And nobody mentioned anything about the talking fire-spitting raccoon thing!
Relationships: Grim & Deuce Spade & Ace Trappola, Grim & Deuce Spade & Ace Trappola & Original Character(s), It's a veeeeerrrrry slow burn though, Lilia Vanrouge & Original Characters(s), Malleus Draconia & Original Character(s), More to be added as they become relevant - Relationship, Sebek Zigvolt & Original Character(s), Silver & Lilia Vanrouge, Silver (Twisted-Wonderland)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Once upon a Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for the translation goes to ShellBB as their videos along with the translators on the Fandom Wiki are what I am basing most of this fic on. Because I have a very limited knowledge of Japanese.

_It all starts with a nightmare  
_

_She’s running through a forest._

_Rain comes down in sheets, soaking her to be bone and leaving her shivering. She can hardly see anything ahead of her, not with the night sky engulfed in clouds devouring every speck of light the stars and moon had to offer. Twigs break and stab at her feet, sharp rocks leaving tiny cuts and dirt making them sting. Her panting breath is all she can hear, her heart threatening to burst out her chest from all the fear and anxiety currently making her blood race._

_She doesn’t know how long she has before they notice she’s gone._

_Her foot suddenly meets nothing but solid air and she screams at the sudden descent. Luckily it turned out to only be a steep muddy hill, though her pants do end up stained with mud as she falls on her rear sliding down._

_Primrose stumbles as she hits the bottom, caught off guard by the sudden source of green light as she turns. A large black terrifying horse with glowing white eyes suddenly rears with a neigh, a flash of lightning quickly followed by a crash of thunder causing her to shout again as she falls back trying to getaway. The horse suddenly calms down, seemingly soothed by an unseen hand, and then it waits for her expectantly._

_After a moment of staring, she realizes, it’s an Ebony Carriage. Probably on its way to pick up a student, or perhaps on its way back._

_Regardless, it was her ticket out of here!_

_She quickly gets out of the horse’s way, quickly grabbing onto the ledge to clamber up into the driver’s seat._

_But then she stops, realizing that the carriage...wasn’t going anywhere._

_But why?_

_Her question is answered as the coffin-like gate floats out of the carriage, Primrose falling off with a yelp. She stares, dumbfounded, as it sets itself upright in front of her, the door creaking open to reveal the velvet interior. Lightning flashes as if to punctuate the silent command._

_Get in._

_She knows there’s something very wrong with this._

_She knows this shouldn’t have happened for her._

_She knows in her gut that this is probably a very bad idea._

_In fact, she was considering just taking her chance in the forest when she hears the panicked and furious shouts of the men._

“ _I THINK I HEARD IT FROM OVER HERE-!”_

_In a split-second decision, Primrose throws herself into the coffin lid. The second she’s inside the door swings shut, followed by the echoing click of a lock._

_She stands there, shivering, and squeaks as she feels the coffin float back up. It lays itself flat, and she ends up on her stomach as it carries her to what she assumes is the carriage. The velvet beneath her is quickly becoming soaked with rainwater, but it becomes secondary as she feels the coffin jostle slightly as it settles into the carriage._

_Primrose lies there, shivering violently. The voices get closer just as the carriage starts to pull away._

_Would they stop the carriage to investigate?_

_Should she have run?_

_Did she just make a terrible mistake?_

_But the voices get further and further away, and she thinks she hears panic edge into the tone. And then they disappear, Primrose waiting to hear another noise intently. All she gets is the sound of the wheels turning and hooves splashing into the watery mud of the flooded road._

_Primrose rolls over, laughing in hysterical relief. She did it. She escaped them. Yes, she was stuck in here for an indeterminate amount of time, but that hardly mattered to her at the moment. She was just glad to be alive._

_Just when her heart starts to slow down, the back of the coffin underneath her disappears and she falls backward with a shriek._

_And she’s falling._

_Falling._

_Falling._

_F_ _alling through an endless black void,_ _flailing desperately to grab onto a life-saving ledge that didn’t exist. Her plainclothes disappear, in their place now billowing violet robes with delicate details she was too panicked to take any notice of._

 _She falls_ _past a seemingly random assortment of items. Oversized playing cards from each suite along with a crown, animal skulls and a staff, parchments and seashells, a Djinn’s lamp and jewels, a crown a knife and an apple, random bits of technology with blue flames bursting from them, and finally a gleaming white sword that almost looked to be made from_ _pure silver, and a magnificent shield that gleamed like shining_ _gold all seem to fall up and into the void as she continues her descent down into it._

_Then all at once it comes to a halt as her back hits a velvet lined surface. In the space between blinks, she finds herself in a circular chamber full of coffins, all grouped around a floating sinister mirror at the center. A finely dressed man she doesn’t recognize turns to her, but her mind is so foggy._

_She’s so tired._

_Her limbs are so heavy._

_She leans back into her coffin, arms folding neatly over her stomach_ _as her head lolls to one side._

_“For me. For them. For you.” An unfamiliar voice says. “We are all running out of time.”_

_Her eyes close...and she knows no more._

Primrose wakes up to the sound of scratching above her.

“Hnnn…?” She grumbles out, squinting through the darkness. Her brain is sluggish and tired like she’d woken up far too early and had every reason and right to just lie her head back down and go to sleep. Her head feels like it’s full of lead as she struggles to lift it up. “What’s that noise…?”

“Gah! The lid’s too heavy!”

‘ _A voice…?’_

“Time for my...secret move!” The high pitched voice cackles gleefully.

‘ _What the heck is he even...’_

“FIGYAAA!”

Several things happened at once. The lid of the coffin Primrose had been sleeping in suddenly flies off its hinges and taking with it is the drowsy spell that had been cast over her. All at once her senses snap awake and to stay she’s left in stunned confusion would be an understatement. She had to take in so many things at once she’s sick with it, feeling vaguely nauseous.

She registers a circular dungeon-like room lined with green flamed torches and floating coffins, a strange black creature with blue flames coming from its ears in front of her. But far more urgently pressing is-

“F-FIRE?!” She shrieks, staring at the dying blue embers around the outside of her coffin.

“Okay, okay, gotta get – FIGYAAAA?!” The floating black raccoon thing shrieks right back at her. “WHY ARE YOU UP?!”

“WHO?! WHAT?!” She screams, looking around frantically. “Where am I?! Where’s Auntie Gale?! What the hell are you, a talking raccoon?!”

“I am not a raccoon!” The floating...cat actually now that she’s had a moment to look at him, gripes. He puts a paw to his chest as he sticks his chest out and proudly proclaims, “I am the Great Grim! Now, gimme your clothes!”

“My clothes!?” Primrose’s voice reaches a pitch she hadn’t realized she was capable of. She glances down and sees that she isn’t wearing her nightie, but baggy oversized and strange violet robes with golden embroidery on the billowing sleeves. She doesn’t remember changing into these, but regardless, she isn’t stripping for some creepy flying cat! “No way in Hell I’m giving you my clothes, you little creep!”

“Creep?” The flying cat repeats, sounding confused. “What are you-”

He’s cut off with a startled yelp as Primrose lunges forward. The silver bracelet on her right arm gleams, the shield-shaped charm suddenly becoming the full-sized article in a flash of sparkles.

“WHAT THE-”

Primrose bashes her shield right into the flying cat-thing. With a pained shout, he goes flying ass over teakettle through the air until he pancakes face-first into one of the floating coffins. With a groan he starts sliding down until eventually flopping onto the floor. Not that Primrose stuck around to see it, she promptly bolts out the nearest pair of double doors.

They open with a resounding bang that echoes through the strange, unfamiliar castle-like halls she finds herself in. She looks to each end, hoping to find something that might hint to being the right way out, but found nothing. 

An outraged “GET BACK HERE” along with a blue fireball narrowly flying over her head quickly make her decision, however.

She picks a direction and runs, an angry flying cat hot on her heels.

She finds herself in a beautiful courtyard full of immaculate apple trees, but no way out.

Then opening a door down the hallway reveals what appears to be some sort of classroom, but no way out.

Finally she finds herself in a massive multi-story library with eerie lanterns and floating books all around. Under different circumstances, she would have stared around in amazed delight, because there was nothing so overtly magical in her hometown. But she has far more pressing matters as she slams the door behind her and bolts for the window. She doesn’t see any castle beyond it, so it might be her way out!

Or at least, so she thought. As soon as she reaches the window she comes to a skidding halt, out of breath as she gasps for air. What lies beyond the window isn’t any road or scenery that she could make her way through to eventually find civilization from wherever the hell she’s been spirited away to. Instead, all she sees is a blank rocky cliff that seems to drop off the edge of the world as all she can see is an endless starry night sky.

“WHERE THE HECK AM I?!” She screams, her frightened voice echoing back to her through the empty library. She backs away from the window, her heart racing as she looks around for another door. “I-If this is a dream-”

_If this is a dream, I want to wake up. I want to wake up right now!_

Blue fire erupts around her, caging her in near the window.

“Did you really think you’d get away from my nose?” The flying cat demands in a sneer. “Dumb human!”

Prim grits her teeth with a growl, raising up her shield.

“If you don’t wanna get roasted, you’d better hand over those-!”

CRACK

She sees something long and thin blur behind the cat as he cuts off with a pained yowl. The fire disappears instantly, leaving nothing but a slightly singed rug in its wake.

“OOOW! What’s with this rope!?”

“This is no mere rope!” A new, rather pompous sounding, voice declares. “It is a lash of love!”

“Lash of...” Primrose repeats incredulously, staring at the new extravagantly dressed arrival. He was dressed up like he was heading to a masquerade, with a fine tailored suit with an iridescent vest, a cape with black feathers adorning the shoulders, a top hat with what looks like some kind of mirror pin and a feather, finished off with a black mask that resembled a crow skull that obscured all of his features. The only thing she could see were a pair of glowing yellow orbs that she thinks are his eyes.

‘ _Oh my God, is he one of those weirdos Auntie Gale warned me about?’_ She wonders.

“Ah, finally found you at last! Are you one of the new students?” The man addresses her, his voice suddenly more jovial.

“Um...new student?” She repeats.

“You really shouldn’t do things like that!” He chastises her, ignoring the utterly baffled look she’s shooting him. “Leaving the gate on your own! Not only that but you’ve brought a familiar that you’ve clearly haven’t tamed!”

“Familiar?!” She and the cat repeat at the same time.

“I am not his familiar!” Grim exclaims, pointing at her indignantly.

‘ _Wait, his?’_

“Yes, yes, rebellious ones always say such things,” The masked weirdo says in a dismissive placating tone. “Quiet down for a moment, yes?”

With a snap of his fingers Grim’s mouth snaps shut and he can’t seem to open it again. He floats away, paws trying to pry his own maw open, as the masked weirdo approaches Prim.

“My goodness, it’s unprecedented for a new student to leave the Gate on their own.” He says in his earlier chastising manner. He seems unbothered by the fact that she’s staring at him bug-eyed and shivering from leftover adrenaline and nerves as he heaves a great sigh. “Really, how impatient can you be?”

“I-I didn’t do it by choice!” She manages out. “That...thing!”

She points to Grim, who is desperately pawing at his own mouth trying to pry open his sealed lips. “It attacked me! It blew off the lid of the coffin I was in!”

“Oh? So, wait, this isn't your familiar?”

“No way!” She says, shaking her head.

“I suppose that does explain a few things,” the masked man says, yellow orbs narrowing at Grim. “Suppose I’ll have to throw him out then.”

Grim makes a distressed sound of protest, waving his arms as he glares. The masked man continues to ignore him however as he proclaims. “Regardless, we must hurry! The Entrance Ceremony is well underway and if we don’t hurry everyone will be sent to bed before your dorm is selected! Come along now, let’s head to the Hall of Mirrors. I’ll throw out the little monster afterward.”

With a gentle hand at her back he coaxes her along to follow in his steps beside him. Grim also follows behind, still trying to get his mouth open.

“Would you like me to carry that shield for you? It must be cumbersome.”

“Huh?” Primrose says, before realizing that her shield is still on her arm. “Oh, that’s okay.”

With hardly another thought the shield flashes white and transforms back into a charm on her bracelet, white sparkles floating to the floor and disappearing just before they reach it.

“Oh my, what a wonderful little bit of magic!” The strange man says in a strangely indulgent tone. “Did you make that yourself?”

“No...it’s a gift from my Aunt...”

“Your Aunt must be a powerful sorceress to create such a thing. It might seem like it’s simple, but it’s actually quite a complicated process to create an item that transforms upon command like that, _especially_ when there isn’t even a spoken keyword! And to have such _flawless_ control over it speaks volumes about you. I can see why the Dark Mirror chose you!”

“Dark Mirror?” She repeats feebly, even as she tries to imagine her short, stocky, grandmotherly aunt as a powerful sorceress. Sure she was a fae but...

“Hmm? You don’t know about the Dark Mirror?”

“I think I’ve heard of it, but I can’t remember where or what I heard.”

“Hmm, it appears you’ve suffered a bit of disorientation.” The man says. “I suppose it’s inevitable. You were awoken rather abruptly and then chased all over the school. Never fear, I shall explain it all to you as we head to the Hall of Mirrors. For I am _gracious_.”

Primrose briefly wonders why he felt the need to state such a thing if he were truly gracious, but quietly decides that’s not a battle she wants to pick at the moment as he clears his throat.

“This, is Night Raven College,” he says grandly, and the name rings a soft bell for her even as she stays dutifully silent. “Those magicians blessed with a special aptitude for magic gather from all over the world, here in the most prestigious academy in Twisted Wonderland.”

Twisted Wonderland…?

“And I am the principal, appointed to take care of this academy by the board chairmen, Dire Crowley.”

“Night...college…” Primrose says, desperately grasping through her memories to figure out where she had heard of the name. All at once she seizes upon it with a gasp. “Wait, THE Night Raven College?! The one that sends those creepy carriages with coffins to collect students?!”

“Yes, precisely!” Crowley says encouragingly. “See, you remember after all! Though, I wouldn’t call the Ebony Carriages creepy. And those aren’t coffins, they’re gates that those chosen by the Dark Mirror use to be summoned here. You should have entered once to get here. Do you remember that?”

“Yeah, I do actually now that you mention it. The horse had been terrifying…” She says, as she now vaguely remembers standing outside her home, alone, as an Ebony Carriage came for her. “It’s starting...starting to come back…”

“Excellent! That’s wonderful to hear.”

Yes, she remembered alright. Even in her far off home there were the occasional tales of a somewhat sinister school that produced some of the greatest sorcerers, right alongside its more noble counterpart and rival Royal Sword Academy. She even knows a boy from her village who had been selected as a student. The whole village had gathered to see him off, and she remembers sitting in her aunt’s arms as the creepy carriage carrying a coffin came to fetch him.

She also remembers a rather pressing detail.

One, she isn’t a magician. She distinctly remembers crying on her thirteenth birthday because that was the cutoff date for when she could discover her Unique Magic. The most magical thing about her is the charm bracelet her Auntie had given her on that otherwise miserable birthday.

And two...Night Raven College is an _all-boys school._

And she is most certainly _not_ a boy.

For a brief moment she wondered how Crowley could have not noticed she was a girl, before looking down at her robes and realizing that because they were so big and ill-fitted, they were obscuring her figure. He had probably had just written her voice off as unusually high-pitched, and she knew from personal experience that faces could be extremely unreliable indicators of sex and gender, even disregarding the fact most of her face was obscured by the hood.

“Um,” She manages out. “Mr. Crowley, sir-?”

“Here we are!” He cuts her off grandly as they reach another set of double doors.

“Wait there’s been a-” 

“Did he get a stomach ache or something?” A voice from inside the doors asks just before Crowley swings the doors open with a bang.

“Not at all!” Crowley proclaims in answer.

“He’s here.” A short robed figure says. There’s a bunch of robed figures in the room, all grouped around a massive mirror into seven groups that could only be told apart by the crystals upon the keys draped around their wastes. 

_'This looks like some kind of cult meeting…’_ Primrose thinks, a bit stunned and temporarily distracted.

“I can’t believe you all.” Crowley chastises the group. “There was a new student missing, so I went to go find them.”

He turns to her with a gentle smile.

“You’re the only one left who hasn’t been assigned a dorm. Allow me to watch over the raccoon-”

The cat makes muffled and angry sounds of protest.

“-Just step in front of the Dark Mirror.” Crowley finishes.

“I-”

With an arm around her shoulders and a surprising amount of strength, Crowley sweeps her in front of the mirror. Her protest dies as she sees that instead of her own reflection, she sees green flames and a massive, creepy, mask-like face staring back at her.

“State thy name.” The creepy face in the mirror commands.

“Primrose Bouclier,” She responds without thinking.

“Primrose Bouclier, the shape of thy soul is...” The scary face in the mirror pauses, and all of a sudden she feels those eyeless slits in the mask-like face are boring into her like he’s staring straight into her heart. Her soul, appropriately. She’s so startled by the sensation, she almost doesn’t hear the deep voice declare, “Diasomnia!”

She freezes in place, feeling like the world stood still.

Diasomnia? Is that...is that a fancy term for ‘non-magical’ she just hasn’t heard of before?

Clearly not, because the small group of robed figures with green crystals politely clap for her. The shortest among them starts waving her over in a ‘come here’ gesture.

“Excellent!” Crowley exclaims, hands on her shoulders to nudge her gently when she doesn’t move. “Now, if you’ll just join your dorm right over here.”

Wait.

WAIT.

WAIT WAIT WAIT-!

“Huh…?” Is all she can manage out, staring numbly ahead of her.

Had the mirror made another mistake? But no, that can’t be it. Sure, she could see the mirror making a mistake and accidentally summon her thinking she’s a boy, as magical objects like it could sometimes have trouble discerning things like sex and gender. They look at souls, not the physical form or minds. 

But magic _comes from the soul_. The Dark Mirror would have to know that she wasn’t a magician the moment it looked at her. Which meant...

...she... _has magic after all?_

“What’s the matter with him?” Someone from the red crystal group demands because Primrose has gone stiff as a board from shock. Crowley starts pushing her towards her new ‘dorm.’

“He looks just about ready to faint.” A voice from the orange crystal group comments.

“With all these people around, I can’t blame him.” The floating tablet thing comments dryly.

“Is he okay…?” A soft voice from the violet crystal group asks.

“Oh he has woken a bit too abruptly and is suffering quite a bit of disorientation,” Crowley assures the crowd, even as Primrose digs her heels in and makes his job of guiding her towards the green crystal group that much harder. All the while Primrose quietly reels from the revelation that _she actually has magic, what the Hell; why is she only finding this out now?!_ “Nothing a good night’s rest won’t solve, I’m sure.”

“I-” She squeaks out. She’s confused and upset but also at the same time wants to whoop in delight. _She has magic._ She’s _wanted_ this ever since she was a little girl, _dreamed_ about it for ages. Of going to a magic school, of having her own unique magic, of all the wonderful amazing adventures she could have. She had been _devastated_ when her thirteenth birthday arrived and she realized she would never have any of those experiences she so desperately wanted. She’s just had her dearest wish granted and she almost wants to burst out singing because she’s so happy!

But at the same time she’s upset because _this isn’t the school she should have been attending!_

This is all one massive misunderstanding and she feels like she’s just been presented with a treat she wanted for so long, only to have it snatched out of her hands at the last second.

“There, there,” The shortest among the group of robed individuals says kindly as Crowley pushes her within their reach. Seeing his face clearly she’s a bit shocked by how mature his voice was in contrast to his youthful almost feminine face. Her eyes widen as a pair of fangs glint at her as he smiles. “There’s no need to be so nervous.”

“I-” She squeaks out again, but her voice dies in her throat and she mumbles the rest out in a voice so small she can’t even hear herself.

“Stop with that mumbling!” A tall boy barks at her so loudly she jumps almost a foot in the air. “If you have something to say, say it _**loud and clear!**_ ”

Strangely despite how his shouting had snapped the last thread of her nerves, his order is actually exactly the kind of advice she needed to follow.

“I’M NOT A BOY!” Primrose finally shrieks at the top of her lungs. Almost everyone in the room jumps, even the tall boy who’d yelled at her was now staring at her in alarm. “I’M A GIRL AND I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!”

The room goes silent as she can feel every set of eyes in the room now settle on her.

And then Crowley laughs a bit awkwardly.

“Amusing joke, young man, but-”

Primrose does the only thing she can think of to prove she’s a girl. She grabs the robes around her waist and pulls at them behind her. The cloth pulls tight over her chest, accentuating her figure and particularly the things on her chest that most boys do not have, and the ones that do would generally not go out of their way to highlight.

The room goes silent for a moment again.

“Well, shit.” Someone from the red crystal group deadpans.

**Author's Note:**

> Finally done with this. I got into Twisted Wonderland a couple weeks ago and fell in love with it enough to make up my own OC character for the first time in a long time. I'm super excited to write this.
> 
> As the tags used to say, Primrose is Twisted from Prince Philip and is serving as the main character as she goes through the events of the game. Right now she's got the chorus of "WTF" playing in her head and is stressed out, but once she has the chance to calm down her more Philip-y traits of 'fuck you fight me' will shine through.
> 
> And for those of you who might be here from my Castlevania fic, I haven't abandoned it I just hit a wall and I'm stepping back for a bit.


End file.
